What we do

The Dental Complaints Resolution Service exists to help patients and participating dentists to resolve complaints about private dental care, and to give advice to any dental patient on their options in such circumstances.

The Service covers the whole of the Republic of Ireland and is open to patients wishing to complain about any aspect of dental care, treatment or service involving any participating dentist. Dentists participating in the Service may also seek our assistance to help them to deal with complaints. Rather than seeking to restrict contact with the Service, by reference for example to some threshold of seriousness, we believe that any complaint about private care should be eligible for consideration.

However, we will not deal with complaints that raise a question as to whether or not a dentist should continue practising. The Dental Complaints Resolution Service will try to help patients and their dentists to put things right, ultimately helping to rebuild the dentist-patient relationship. At the time when the Dental Complaints Resolution Service was commissioned, it was agreed that it would only be available to those whose complaint about their private dental care arose within the three-month period before the Service was launched and after.